BEIJING, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Base metals prices fell sharply
in early Asian trade on Monday on reports that U.S. tariffs on
$200 billion of Chinese goods could be imposed immediately.
The tit-for-tat trade row between the world's top two
economies has left investors fearing that demand for industrial
metals will soften. FUNDAMENTALS:
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
fell as much as 1.9 percent to $5,861.50 a tonne and
stood at $5,890 a tonne as of 0136 GMT, after shedding 1 percent
on Friday. The most-traded November copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 1.4 percent to 47,940
yuan ($6,977.86)a tonne.
* TARIFFS: U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to announce
new tariffs on about $200 billion on Chinese imports as early as
Monday, a senior administration official told Reuters on
Saturday.
* OTHER METALS: LME nickel fell furthest, tumbling
as much as 3.2 percent overnight to $12,250 a tonne, its lowest
since Sept. 12, before trimming losses to around 2 percent. Only
Shanghai tin was in positive territory, inching up 0.1
percent.
* TAXES: Chile's congress is studying a proposal for an
additional royalty payment for copper and lithium miners
operating in the country to bolster the development of the
regions around their deposits, according to a draft seen by
Reuters.
* HYDRO/RIO: Norway's Hydro said on Friday it had
dropped plans to buy several of Rio Tinto's,
assets, including an aluminium plant in Iceland, after approval
from European Commission regulators took longer than
anticipated.
* PERU: Brazilian mining company Nexa Resources,
MIL.LM plans to invest some $1.17 billion in copper and zinc
projects in Peru and Brazil over the next five years, the
company's general manager Ricardo Porta said on Friday.
* DRC: The prime minister of Democratic Republic of Congo
will sign a decree in the coming days to designate cobalt and
other minerals as "strategic" and therefore subject to higher
royalties, Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu said on Saturday.
